When you think of the “King of Christmas,” it’s probable that you picture musicians like Frank Sinatra or Michael Bublé, who have both released dozens of holiday tunes. But when you hear the phrase “Queen of Christmas,” where does your mind go? Perhaps to the “All I Want For Christmas Is You” singer, Mariah Carey, or perhaps to Darlene Love who has sung many Christmas songs throughout her lengthy career.
Well, the “Queen of Christmas” title has been in a bit of bidding war, not only between Carey and Love, but with a singer named Elizabeth Chan, who exclusively writes and sings Christmas tunes. Each of the three musicians made a ploy to win the trademark for themselves back in 2022, but it wasn’t an easy fight.
How did the battle for ‘Queen of Christmas’ begin?
Following the 1994 release of Carey’s holiday album, Merry Christmas, and massive hit, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” it’s been nearly impossible to get through the season without hearing one of her holiday tunes. That’s why, back in 2021, Carey filed a petition to trademark herself as the official “Queen of Christmas.” The singer was looking to use the phrase on a number of products and didn’t want others to use it.
While most fans of the artist wouldn’t argue with this move, a couple of artists had a problem. The first one is musician Elizabeth Chan, who refers to herself as “The Queen of Christmas.” Chan is the only full-time Christmas musician and has written over 1,500 holiday hits.
When Chan heard about Carey’s motion, she filed a motion in opposition, explaining that she had already been using the phrase and had been dubbed the “Queen of Christmas.” While Carey’s team did file motions to extend the proceedings, they never filed a response to Chan’s objections, and eventually, Carey lost the trademark in a “judgment by default.”
Another musician who was not interested in Carey having exclusive rights to the title was Darlene Love, who has released quite a few holiday songs. Love shared in a post to Facebook, “David Letterman officially declared me the Queen of Christmas 29 years ago, a year before she released ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You.’”
Who won the title?
Following Carey’s loss with the Trial Trademark and Appeal Board, she cannot exclusively use the title of “Queen of Christmas.” With the decision, the title can be used by anyone, including Darlene Love, Elizabeth Chan and Mariah Carey.
Love celebrated the news by going to Facebook to write, “Thank you, Lord!! Congrats to all the other Queens of Christmases around the world.” The law firm representing Chan shared their own statement, writing, “Mariah Carey’s company was engaged in classic trademark bullying: trying to monopolize the title ‘Queen of Christmas’ with a trademark registration. It’s important to stand up to bullies. That’s what we helped do here. Now, because of what Elizabeth did, nobody can claim exclusive and permanent rights to the ‘Queen of Christmas’ title.”
Chan followed up with a similar statement of her own, writing, “It has been a year-long legal struggle, but I’m glad that justice has prevailed and that I can continue doing what I do best: bringing Christmas music and entertainment to the world.”
